‘I promised him we would go trick or treating. Work came up. Flights were delayed, traffic was crazy, and I got home to find him asleep in his costume waiting for me. I ugly cried.’

“I want to tell you how beautiful women are. I promised Luca weeks and weeks in advance that we would go trick or treating. Leading up to it he was so excited, and we looked at costumes we were all going to wear. We have always loved Halloween and I’ve loved it since watching it in movies (don’t care if it’s an ‘American’ holiday – it’s not really, but anyway). An opportunity for me to work came up and I flew interstate for the day. I promised Luca the night before that I’d be home in time to trick or treat. Flights were delayed, traffic was crazy, and I got home to find him asleep in his costume waiting for me. I ugly cried. Bloody Mom guilt, right? I felt so terrible. I knew he wouldn’t have cared but I wanted to keep the promise to him. I hated broken promises as a kid.

I messaged a local Facebook moms’ group to ask if anyone still had their decorations up, so we could trick or treat, and I’d provide the ‘candy’ … immediately I was flooded with messages from mothers saying they still do and have lots of chocolate and goodies left over, some even saying they’ll put their decorations back up. Everyone appreciating the feeling of the guilt I felt and wanted to help.

I grabbed some bottles of wine to hand out to those moms and we went trick or treating on the 1st of November. I explained to my son at each house how caring each person was to do this for him, and that he should learn from their kindness and do the same and that kindness like this should never be taken for granted. One mom even went as far as to dress up so that my son would get the full experience.

I have been in tears all day. Happy and emotional tears. They didn’t just do it for my son, they didn’t just teach him that humanity is beautiful, but they taught me that in motherhood, you’re never alone, because other mothers will always have your back!”